Pakistan to honour Indian doctors who kept Jinnah's illness a secret

Pakistan has announced it will confer its highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, on two Indian doctors who treated Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, during his final illness. The announcement was made by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on social media on Pakistan's Independence Day, August 14.

The doctors, both belonging to Mumbai's Parsi community, were said to have kept Jinnah's terminal condition confidential in 1946, a year before the Partition of India. According to Minister Iqbal, Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, later acknowledged that had he known of Jinnah's frail health, the timeline of Partition might have been delayed, potentially altering the course of history and even jeopardising the creation of Pakistan.

In his statement, the minister said: "By maintaining absolute professional confidentiality at such a critical moment, these doctors performed a quiet but extraordinary service. Their fidelity to their professional oath inadvertently became a significant contribution to the circumstances that made the creation of Pakistan possible." The names of the doctors were not disclosed.

Jinnah, who led the movement for a separate Muslim state, died in September 1948, thirteen months after Pakistan came into existence. He had been suffering from tuberculosis, which was incurable at the time. The doctors are believed to have treated him during his stay in Bombay (now Mumbai) before he moved to Karachi.

The Nishan-e-Imtiaz, meaning 'Order of Excellence', is Pakistan's highest civilian honour. It is the first category of the Order of Imtiaz, awarded for achievements that bring international recognition to the country or for outstanding service to the nation. Other categories in Pakistan's honours system include Hilal, Sitara, and Tamgha, with separate guidelines for civilians, military personnel, and occasionally foreign nationals.

According to official records, the award has been conferred on 52 individuals, including 14 foreign nationals. Among them is Indian actor Dilip Kumar, who received the honour in 1998 for his contribution to fine arts. Other notable foreign recipients include the Aga Khan IV of Switzerland, Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah, the former Queen of Nepal, and Indonesian General Rudini. In 2025, General Michael Kurilla of the United States was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) for his role in defence cooperation.

The national civil and military awards of Pakistan are traditionally announced on Independence Day (August 14) and formally conferred at a presidential investiture ceremony on Pakistan Day (March 23). The upcoming ceremony is expected to formally recognise the two Indian doctors, whose names have not yet been officially revealed.

The announcement has drawn attention to a lesser-known episode in the history of Partition, a period marked by mass migration and violence along the newly drawn borders of Punjab and Bengal. The doctors' adherence to medical confidentiality, a cornerstone of professional ethics, is now being credited by Pakistan with having played a silent but decisive role in the birth of the nation.